Can high humidity damage components?

[nothereanymore]

The thought crossed my mind. I've had a kit of RAM sitting in its plastic package for a few months right now, and Montreal summers are very humid (upwards of 60% almost every day, usually in the 70s) and was wondering if humidity can damage it. Now I know since its inside its package it shouldn't hurt, but what if I were to just leave it out?

[INSERTNAMEHERE]

It could kill it if you are to use it while not completely dried (because of a short or something), but when dry at use I can't see why the kit shouldn't work.

 

[nothereanymore]

2 minutes ago, INSERTNAMEHERE said:

It could kill it if you are to use it while not completely dried (because of a short or something), but when dry at use I can't see why the kit shouldn't work.

 

Well it's not humid to the point where things are moist. It is dry, just the air is heavy.

[agent_x007]

No power = no problem.
Silicon can't melt in water and gold can't rust

+ Adding to what @INSERTNAMEHERE said :
Working in high humidity... that's a WHOLE different story.
Always dry wet electronic parts before using them.

[INSERTNAMEHERE]

2 minutes ago, Noirgheos said:

Well it's not humid to the point where things are moist. It is dry, just the air is heavy.

The water can condense at the soldering points on the PCB, while its unlikely to happen this could kill your RAM kit because you probably wont even notice it.  

[nothereanymore]

18 minutes ago, INSERTNAMEHERE said:

The water can condense at the soldering points on the PCB, while its unlikely to happen this could kill your RAM kit because you probably wont even notice it.  

But for that to happen it'll have to be absurdly humid. Like right next to a body of water or after rain on a super hot day. As long as its in the plastic packaging it should be ok until I order a board and CPU for it.

[INSERTNAMEHERE]

9 minutes ago, Noirgheos said:

But for that to happen it'll have to be absurdly humid. Like right next to a body of water or after rain on a super hot day. As long as its in the plastic packaging it should be ok until I order a board and CPU for it.

It does not have to be absolutely humid. You have sharp edges at the soldering points. Factors are nucleation and the temperature difference between air and the metal on the PCB. It will be fine the only thing I am saying that condensation could even happen at 70% humidity on a RAM stick not that it will happen or that you should build a bunker just to protect your RAM kit from getting wet

[nothereanymore]

1 minute ago, INSERTNAMEHERE said:

It does not have to be absolutely humid. You have sharp edges at the soldering points. Factors are nucleation and the temperature difference between air and the metal on the PCB. It will be fine the only thing I am saying that condensation could even happen at 70% humidity on a RAM stick not that it will happen or that you should build a bunker just to protect your RAM kit from getting wet

Alright, so I'll leave it for now. Also, I'm looking at the QVL for the RAM kit http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-2800c15d-16gvr

 

Under GIGABYTE it doesn't list the Gaming 6, but the 3, 5, and 7 are there. You think it supports it?

[INSERTNAMEHERE]

3 minutes ago, Noirgheos said:

Alright, so I'll leave it for now. Also, I'm looking at the QVL for the RAM kit http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-2800c15d-16gvr

 

Under GIGABYTE it doesn't list the Gaming 6, but the 3, 5, and 7 are there. You think it supports it?

I dont know, it should work but if it doesnt say it you cant be sure

[mrchow19910319]

In Singapore the humidity of the whole city is always at 90%. If I remembered correctly.

I used to put my desktop into a shelf and just leave it there for months. Coz I was not able to use it, need to leave the country.

When I came back , there always gonna be some minor issue when it comes to booting the system and stuff.

After a few times I knew it was the RAM, the humid air cannot KILL a ram. But it can cause you some small issue. Like blue screen when booting and stuff. there was one time I called out the customer service to help me fix it, (I thought the desktop itself is completely broken and not functioning at all), in the end when the technician came, what he did was quite simple. Used a eraser to rubbed it against the pin of the ram, then , it works, system booting with no issue, everything works like a charm. If you are worried about all these, you can make sure that every week turn on your PC for a while, I think that will reduce the chance of RAM malfunctioning. Just like cars, you put them in the garage for 10 years, they are gonna have issues. However if you keep using them, those issues will not occur to your vehicle. 

[Oggy1985]

If humidity becomes condensation and moisture/water gets on a component - YES. If the air is just humid/heavy, but component is in sealed packaging and no water/moisture gets to a component - NO. Since RAM isn't in use and there is no electric power present this also reduces the risk of damage.

[incarnate]

20 hours ago, Noirgheos said:

Alright, so I'll leave it for now. Also, I'm looking at the QVL for the RAM kit http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-2800c15d-16gvr

 

Under GIGABYTE it doesn't list the Gaming 6, but the 3, 5, and 7 are there. You think it supports it?

Take qvls with a grain of salt. If something isn't on it, it means that it wasn't tested. It could work or it might not. Chances are very good it will work if it is a consumer board (which the gaming 6 is) and consumer ram (which your ram is).

 

Issues only really show up with high end triple and quad channel ram on dual only boards, ecc ram, ram with really odd timings, and non mainstream parts. It is rare that ram and a mobo won't find a way to get along

[nothereanymore]

8 hours ago, Oggy1985 said:

If humidity becomes condensation and moisture/water gets on a component - YES. If the air is just humid/heavy, but component is in sealed packaging and no water/moisture gets to a component - NO. Since RAM isn't in use and there is no electric power present this also reduces the risk of damage.

Well its as sealed as RAM kits can be. Little openings here and there and just enough for air to get through. Thing is the humidity isn't so bad as to create condensation. Like it is 94% now at 17C, but its not like anything is wet, just the walls are a little sticky I guess.